Lawmakers: Hearing Needed On UConn Sexual Assault Policies

HARTFORD — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and state lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are calling for a public hearing on policies and procedures regarding sexual assaults at the University of Connecticut.

The push for a hearing started Thursday morning with Sen. John McKinney and Rep. Lawrence F. Cafero, the Republican leaders in the General Assembly. But as the day wore on, top Democrats, including the governor, joined the call in an unusual display of concurrence.

"It is our obligation as a legislature to ensure that state law is being followed and also to determine whether improvements in the law are required to adequately protect victims of sexual assault,'' said McKinney, who is running for governor. "As public officials and university administrators, we must work together to ensure our universities enforce a zero-tolerance policy on sexual assault."

A state law passed in 2012 requires all public and private colleges and universities in Connecticut to adopt and disclose policies related to sexual assault. The law also requires the schools to create a plan for enforcing court-ordered protective and restraining orders, make campus disciplinary proceedings uniform and transparent and provide students and employees with sexual assault awareness and prevention programs.

McKinney and Cafero sent a letter to the leaders of the General Assembly's public safety and higher education committees pressing for a joint hearing.

Their request came just three days after seven current and former UConn students filed a Title IX complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights, alleging that the state's flagship public university failed to protect them from sexual assault and did not adequately investigate and respond to numerous reported sexual assaults that occurred on campus.

"The public must be assured that UConn is not only abiding by state and federal laws, but is doing all that it can to prevent sexual assaults on campus, support victims of sexual violence, and punish perpetrators,'' the Republican lawmakers wrote in their letter. "If there is a need to strengthen state law to protect victims and ensure proper discipline of perpetrators, we must identify those areas and develop proposals in advance of what will be a short legislative session."

As members of the minority party, Republicans often issue calls for hearings; in many cases, those requests are dismissed or ignored by the Democratic majority in both chambers. But in this case, Malloy and his fellow Democrats were quick to embrace the idea.

"Sexual assault is a serious issue on college campuses all across the United States, and it's important for the University of Connecticut to publicly make clear its policies, procedures and efforts to investigate and prevent these types of crimes,'' Senate President Pro Tem Donald Williams and Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney said in a joint statement. "Parents and students need to be reassured that college provides a safe and supportive environment. Anything less is intolerable."

House Speaker Brendan Sharkey, D-Hamden, said the issue transcends party lines. "There is no reason why this effort needed to be partisan — I'm happy to work with my Republican colleagues," he said. "Sexual assault on campus is too important an issue for political grandstanding."

The governor expressed support for the women who filed the federal discrimination complaint accusing UConn of inadequately investigating and responding to reported rapes on campus.

"As a parent and someone whose wife spent years working with victims of sexual assault, my heart goes out to the women that came forward this week,'' Malloy said. "One of the most basic responsibilities of our institutions of higher learning is to keep our young people safe. If they have failed in that responsibility in any way, or if any victim of sexual assault has been treated with anything but the utmost respect, I will be outraged."

Rep. Stephen Dargan, D-West Haven, co-chairman of the public safety committee, said the serious nature of the allegations merits a legislative review.

University spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz said UConn backs the request for a hearing.

"The university would welcome the opportunity to participate in a public hearing on these issues, as well as to discuss our policies and processes that relate to sexual assault prevention and education and the services available to all members of our community who are victims of sexual violence or harassment,'' Reitz said in an emailed statement.

McKinney said he was troubled by UConn President Susan Herbst's response to the Title IX complaint. Herbst said Wednesday that any suggestion that the university was indifferent to reports of sexual assault are "astonishingly misguided and demonstrably untrue."

"I personally like President Herbst and I believe in the job she's doing but ... I found her response very defensive and surprisingly dismissive,'' McKinney said.

"This is not the time to be protective of the UConn brand. This is a time to make sure every woman on that campus is treated respectfully and fairly. ... Can this be very damaging to the university's reputation? The answer is yes, but what is worse is the damage to these woman," McKinney said.